help choosing a new enclosure

[BettyM]

Hi,
As the newly named Tequila Moon and I are getting aquainted and she is showing her personality more Im a bit stuck for what is going to be the best final enclosure for her.
Long story short, she came home with us 3 days ago. Had lived her short 3 month life in a tiny glass viv at a shop, with no wheel, no real toys, never been out to excersise, and very vocal about anything at all. (I actually got a telling off from her today because I dared to end out of cage playtime!) So on arrival home she has been living in a cage that while it isnt the best by a long shot is 2 to 3 times larger than what she was living in before.

So far her requirements are:

depth to burrow - she cant get enough of burrowing
ideally one level - she isnt all that struck with the multiple levels idea so far
we can go upto 89/90cm in length (ill check width tomorrow, and measure the alternative place we can put her as it may well be considerably larger)
loooooves her 12in flying saucer style wheel so height isnt an issue with regards to that.

Oh and she is a syrian.

DIY isnt a problem, but I get veeeery limited days off work to do well.....everything. so simple is good!

Ive got a budget of upto about £60-70 at a push, but obviously cheaper would be nice - and would mean more toys for Tequila Moon
If I think of anything else Ill add it, brain isnt functioning properly atm.

Thank you in advance, any help is muchly apriciated!

[BrainGirl]

The Barney cage is about 10cm longer than you wanted but it's such a good deal I have to mention it! I only wish I could get it here:
Barney Pet Cage | Great deals at zooplus!

Then there's the Hamster Heaven:
http://m.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pe...r_cages/197362

There are others on that site you might prefer though

[Pebbles82]

Well - deep substrate, a bit of diy, single level, space and budget of £60 to £70 suggests Detolf to me! It's the Ikea detolf glass cabinet, tipped on it's side. You leave the door off when you put it together and make two lids (easier to take off than one big lid) out of strips of wood and mesh. There are various videos and tutorials on making lids for them. Some as simple as getting 4 pieces of wood x 2 cut to size at a diy place, fixing them together with tacks or nails or corner brackets, and using a home stapler to staple the mesh on. It costs £40 but you can also get two kallax units for it to sit on which has it at a good height and also provides storage underneath. Here are some examples

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=de...AtB08Q_AUIBygC

This is the detolf

DETOLF Glass-door cabinet - IKEA

These are the Kallax units - two of these with a small gap between them, support the length of the detolf. There is a single longer unit but it's a bit short for supporting the whole cabinet.

KALLAX Shelving unit - high-gloss white - IKEA

That bumps the price up to £100 though - £40 for the detolf and 2 x £30 for the kallax units, but you could just stand the detolf on any piece of furniture or a couple of cheap Lack tables.

LACK Coffee table - white - IKEA

Oops - just saw you said up to 90cm length. The detolf is 163 cm but quite narrow. But it makes interesting room decor if you have a piece of wall free!

There are some good 100cm cages available - the Barney is a popular one. It's a good cage and a good price. Leaves you some spare cash to spend on wheel and cage accessories.

Barney Pet Cage | Great deals at zooplus!

If you're thinking more of tank style cages, the Ferplast Maxi Duna Multi (also 100cm) is good. And you can put deeper substrate in part of it, than you can in a standard cage base. It will fit a 27cm to 29cm wheel but only just so the wheel end needs lower substrate.

Ferplast Maxi Duna Multy Guinea Pig and Rabbit Cage, 99 x 51.5 x 36 cm, Grey: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

If you absolutely can't go over 90cm, then there is the Exo Terra Terrarium, but that's a bit over budget.

Exo Terra Glass Natural Terrarium, Large/Wide, 90 x 45 x 45 cm: Exo Terra: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies

Personally I would go 90cm or 100cm. We have an 80cm cage and I'm finding it not quite big enough once you have Syrian sized things in it. Not quite enough floorspace left. I wish I had got a 100cm one to start with. The 100cm cages will sit on top of a chest of drawers and it doesn't matter if there's a bit of overhang each side.

Or you could buy a 3 foot fish tank second hand - look on gumtree or ebay - some people pick up real bargains - I can never find any in my area! Then you'd need to make a lid for it, similar to the detolf.

If it was me - I'd go for the detolf if I had the space for it. Second choice would be the Barney cage.

[BettyM]

Serindipity, you basically just laid out all the options Ive been mulling over to the letter

Think Im gonna have to go for a Detolf, but find a new place to put wee missy. Ill have to wander around the house with my tape measure tomorrow. Maybe manshape will allow me to steal his "workshop". (That is basically a room in our house used ONLY for tool storage as he never does any DIY lol) or a spare bedroom.

[Scargirl]

If you haven't got the cage yet, and you need a cage that is about 2 feet wide because not a lot of space, then I would recommend the WARE Chew Proof Critter Cage on amazon.com
Just type it in the search and it should come up. Hope this helps.

[BrainGirl]

Unfortunately that cage has an extremely shallow base and as the OP said this hamster loves to burrow! I think the Detolf is the right choice BettyM. If I ever get another hamster after Seren I'm going to make space to set up my Detolf

[flowerfairy]

Originally Posted by Scargirl

If you haven't got the cage yet, and you need a cage that is about 2 feet wide because not a lot of space, then I would recommend the WARE Chew Proof Critter Cage on amazon.com
Just type it in the search and it should come up. Hope this helps.

That cage is below the rspca recommended minimum size of 80 x 50 cm (some rescues will accept 70 by 50).

[BettyM]

Its taking a lot of convincing the Mr that someone so small needs something as large as the Detolf. On top of the fact Id have to order online or nip over to mainland
Think my main argument of its only £40 (not mentioning the base!) is winning, plus we would have more storage

[WinnieTheHam]

Originally Posted by BettyM

Its taking a lot of convincing the Mr that someone so small needs something as large as the Detolf.

Pretty much all cages are small compared to the wild! The more floor space the happier they'll usually be, more freedom they'll have! and more space for toys and deep substrate!

[Bertiebobbins]

IKEA delivery is really expensive if they deliver to the Highlands and Islands at all. The zooplus cages (I like the barney) might be a better option for you?